British voters may punish Blair in last poll test (Reuters)

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

British voters may punish Blair in last poll test
Thu May 3, 2007 7:20PM EDT

By Katherine Baldwin

ABERDEEN (Reuters) - British voters were expected to punish Prime Minister
Tony Blair over the Iraq war and political scandals in an election that could
bring a pro-independence party to power in Scotland.

Blair, facing his last election before he steps down after a decade in power,
could see his Labor Party suffer heavy losses in Thursday's elections to local
councils, the Scottish parliament and Welsh assembly, commentators said.

After polls closed at 10 p.m. (2100 GMT), politicians awaited the first results
from Scotland, where opinion polls suggest the pro-independence Scottish
National Party (SNP) could oust Labor as the biggest party in the Scottish
parliament, ending 50 years of Labor dominance in Scotland.

-snip-

Blair has been Labor's most successful leader, winning three parliamentary
elections in a row. But polls suggest voters have lost trust in him since he
took Britain into the Iraq war.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL026682020070503

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Source: BBC

Last Updated: Friday, 4 May 2007, 00:03 GMT 01:03 UK

Labour awaits voters' judgement

Voting in the biggest round of elections since 2005 has closed,
with Labour expecting heavy losses.

-snip-

Polls suggest Labour is neck and neck with the SNP - and could
lose control in Wales. It also faces losses of up to 600 council
seats in England.

Scotland's first minister Jack McConnell was re-elected but
with an 8% swing to the SNP in his constituency.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6620905.stm

[Greeby]

1. THe Tories are getting all the new councillors in England right now

Voting for Tories coz you're mad at Tony's policies is like treating dandruff with decapitation

[kenny blankenship]

2. Keeping Tory bLiar on as PM long after it was clear the people rejected his war

and his "special relationship" with George W. Bush was equally imbecilic on the part of New Labour. Even from this distance it was crystal clear what would happen (and happen again, and keep on happening) as long as bLiar was still in No. 10 and as long as Britain was still in Iraq. It has been clear for 2 and more years that Labour will lose seats in every round of elections and eventually lose their colossal majority.

And yet, despite the resignations of Cabinet Ministers in protest against him, the Labour Party hierarchy refused to push him out; and now, as predicted, the sky is finally falling. Who but themselves can they blame?

The Democrats on this side of the Atlantic should be watching this carefully and taking notes. They were handed a majority in a strong turn against the Reptilican Party last November so that they should end the occupation of Iraq. If they don't deliver a withdrawal of forces or at least a convincing struggle to end the war, it can all go backwards for them too, and support will collapse much faster for them than it has for Labour.